It looks like the Army is not the only military branch struggling with sequestration.

If Congress fails to pass a new military spending bill and raise funding for the Air Force, the branch will be forced to postpone many of its programs and hire 4,000 less airmen. The deadline for approving the new budget is Oct. 1.

The Air Force plans to add more manpower to cyber and nuclear task forces and update its arsenal, but it cannot do so without a higher budget. Up to 50 aircraft programs would be put on hold, and the Air Force would not be able to purchase any more F-35 Joint Strike Fighters or upgrades for its jets and bombers.

In a press conference on Monday, Air Force officials said that troop cuts will be avoided at all costs. However, without the proper budget the military may have to choose between maintaining troop levels and modernizing Air Force technology.

“We’re at the point today where we have trouble having enough functioning aircraft to keep our Air Force trained,” Gen. Mark Welsh, the Air Force chief of staff, said. “This is not a new problem. We have four fleets of aircraft that are over 50 years old. The idea that we would run a Formula One or a NASCAR race with a car built in 1962 is ridiculous. But we’re going to war with airplanes built in 1962. We have got to modernize the Air Force. It’s just an imperative.”